Adding amp to HK system

[rubber_ducky]

As a matter of full disclosure, I know almost nothing about mobile electronics or electronics in general.

I have a '15 M3 with HK sound. I replaced the stock speakers with BavSound stage 1.

I'm in the process of selling off some items that were either installed or pending install on my previous car. One of those items is a JL Audio 600/4 amp.

Can I use this in my existing car (with HK remember) without too much fanfare around the install (i.e. no major surgery to the car's electrical system)?

I have strong doubts about using it as a replacement for the factory amp... is this accurate?

Can it be used to drive a subwoofer in the trunk? If so, is there a source for a plug-n-play harness to do something like this?

Thanks in advance for any responses. :beer:

[Andrew115]

It's not an ideal sub amp but would would work great if you wanted to repurpose it. You need to get a harness add it. I have seen people here add a sub to the factory system with success. I wouldn't use it to drive bavsound's setup.

Check with http://musicarnw.com/keep-your-factory-radio/ they have been on here and I got some good advice from them.

[Lincoln30]

Originally Posted by Andrew115

It's not an ideal sub amp but would would work great if you wanted to repurpose it. You need to get a harness add it. I have seen people here add a sub to the factory system with success. I wouldn't use it to drive bavsound's setup.

Check with http://musicarnw.com/keep-your-factory-radio/ they have been on here and I got some good advice from them.

Why do you think his amp is not an ideal sub amp?

[Andrew115]

Originally Posted by Lincoln30

Why do you think his amp is not an ideal sub amp?

If I were going to buy an amp for a single sub it wouldn't be a 4channel amp, the intent of this amp is to be a satellite amp in conjunction with a dedicated sub amp. Or 3 way with two channels driving mids and the other two driving the sub @ 300w. You could run dual subs at 300w per channel but I think one sub is enough to add to the existing system for a decent balance.

With all that being said if he wanted to add one sub and needed to buy one amp it wouldn't be a 4channel. It will work but it's not ideal for the situation based on what I know so far.

However - everyone is entitled to do what ever they want. If I were him I would use it to avoid buying more heavily depreciating electronics. Maybe run a single 12 - or - 10 and 12 with that amp mono bridged @ 300w per.

[Lincoln30]

Originally Posted by Andrew115

If I were going to buy an amp for a single sub it wouldn't be a 4channel amp, the intent of this amp is to be a satellite amp in conjunction with a dedicated sub amp. Or 3 way with two channels driving mids and the other two driving the sub @ 300w. You could run dual subs at 300w per channel but I think one sub is enough to add to the existing system for a decent balance.

With all that being said if he wanted to add one sub and needed to buy one amp it wouldn't be a 4channel. It will work but it's not ideal for the situation based on what I know so far.

However - everyone is entitled to do what ever they want. If I were him I would use it to avoid buying more heavily depreciating electronics. Maybe run a single 12 - or - 10 and 12 with that amp mono bridged @ 300w per.

I think it's about as good as anything for a sub in this car because you bridge two channels to a 10" in the trunk and use the remaining 2channels for the underseat woofer2 (ala Musicar Full Bass Stage 2). His should be an HD series amp which is considerably better then the XD series that comes standard with the Musicar kit.

More to the OP's original question about adding the amp to the system. You could do it with a Technic's cable (you don't have to cut any OE wires with his piggy back cables) and an LOC adaptor but I don't know if it will sound good like this since I haven't found any post about amping the mids using an LOC. Since I have the Bavsound front speakers and the Musicar Stage 2, my next step would be to get another 2 channel amp and another LOC and try it. The output levels from the factory amp are really high and that can be dealt with with a good LOC like the one that comes with the Musicar kit (Audio Control LC2i) but I don't know if the not so great situation would be noisy (like hiss and pops)???

Give me some time and I'll borrow a 2 channel amp and eventually try it, if it sounds bad I can reverse it in a few hours and I'm only out the cost of the LOC and some molex connectors to add to the piggyback cable.

[RocketBoots]

I think it depends on your goals and your budget. IMO, you could:
1. Do a major overhaul. That would involve ditching the factory amp, getting a MoBridge pre-amp to tap the MOST-bus signal that goes into the HK amp and give you RCA outs to go to a DSP, then sending the signal to whatever amps you choose. Use the 600/4 to power the front stage (150w to the BavSound mid/tweet, 150w to the woofer underseat), and get a dedicated sub amp and sub. Pretty costly, potentially.
2. Tap the speaker level outs from the HK amp, send to a line out converter (to give you a low level RCA out), and send to the 600/4. Use the 600/4 to power the underseats at 150w each, and bridge the other 2 channels for a sub. Depending on your listening preferences, 300w for a trunk sub may not be enough. Still a decent cost, but not as much as option 1.

Otherwise, I think it would be difficult to repurpose that amp. Because of the digital interface of the HK amp, it's not an easy plug/play. You might try to list the amp for sale in the F3X/E9X forums. For people without the HK, all you require is a simple harness adapter and it's nearly plug/play.

[RocketBoots]

Originally Posted by Lincoln30

You could do it with a Technic's cable (you don't have to cut any OE wires with his piggy back cables)

You cannot use Technic's harness with the HK amp due to the digital interface. You HAVE to use a pre-amp, and the only one I know of that works is the MoBridge.

[Lincoln30]

Originally Posted by RocketBoots

You cannot use Technic's harness with the HK amp due to the digital interface. You HAVE to use a pre-amp, and the only one I know of that works is the MoBridge.

I thought the cable that came with my Musicar kit was made by Technic. Either way, you get that cable and you have 100% of the speaker outputs on a piggyback cable that gives you access to an analog solution. I am interested in the Mobridge unit for my car but I don't know how to work around the issue with nav volume and ASD (I currently have ASD unplugged).

[Technic]

Originally Posted by RocketBoots

You cannot use Technic's harness with the HK amp to replace it due to the digital interface. You HAVE to use a pre-amp, and the only one I know of that works is the MoBridge.

Fixed.

The HK harness/LC2i is used to add an aftermarket amp to the OEM amp to power a trunk sub or/and the OEM woofers.

In this particular case, that XD400/4 (there is no XD600/4) can be used in 3ch mode to power both a trunk sub and the underseat OEM woofers as stated in the previous post.

[rubber_ducky]

sorry so late to reply to add more color.

I initially intended to install this amp into a cayman (which we all know has very little interior *******. I was planning on powering both a set of components and a small sub. I still have the component speakers too... Hertz units. Those I'll likely sell as I'm happy with the plug-n-play bavsound speakers.

The amp is an HD600/4. Technic... does that matter in regards to how it interfaces with the existing HK system? If I can still use it, can I buy the harness that I need directly from you?